Why is Reston's Lake Anne a "Historic District?" (Winchester: pharmacy, stores)

[normie]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Yes. Lake Anne and the adjacent Washington Plaza was one of several "village centers" that Reston was supposed to be oriented around.

I don't agree that Reston was ever "supposed to be oriented around" those centers. They were simply the first centers. Simon started small because he was one man financing an entire city (another reason Reston is historically interesting--the whole thing was built, financed, and planned by one man. That's extremely rare.). If you read more about Simon's vision for Reston, he always wanted the commercial areas to evolve and he wanted Reston to develop bigger shopping and office centers.

In the same way, Isaac Newton Square was the first office complex. Nobody would suggest Simon wanted Reston oriented around it, it was just the first one.

As the city grew the original shopping plazas could no longer accommodate the stores people needed (bigger cities need bigger grocery stores) or the need for lots more parking. So, RTC was built, as well as some badly needed parking garages. But Reston never intended to abandon its older plazas.

Like I said, things evolve. Older shopping centers stop serving basic needs and instead become specialized. Lake Anne has a wonderful future once the economy improves. Its destiny is to promote local artists. The stores will sell local art while the shop keeper displays his craft at pottery wheels, looms, etc. And some of the mom and pop shops will remain (although those are dinosaurs, IMO most of them will end up closing). But for now those dreams are on hold--artists can't open shops like that until the economy improves.

[bornindc]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

As I said this will just take some getting used to I suppose. I'm still not yet over the culture shock from moving here. While there are a LOT of things I like much better about VA than PA, one thing I'll never back down from is my belief that PA benefited from being mostly planned pre-automobile so that there are affordable places to live that have walkable cores. I know it's all a matter of preference, but I really like the aesthetics of late-1800s Victorians over 1990s tract housing and feel depressed that the former is nearly impossible to find here unless you go FAR away like Fredericksburg or Winchester.

ScranBarre, I think you just need to account for the fact that the DC Metro area is not a lot like Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. I mean, how can you expect the real property in the "walkable core" of capital of the U.S. to compare price-wise with north-east Pennsylvania??? That's crazy! Scranton isn't big enough to HAVE exurbs, is it? (And I consider Reston an exurb, it's pretty far out from the center of our metro area).

This geographical area has cities that in terms of population are much closer in size to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Baltimore, Richmond, Charlottesville, etc.) These places have more "affordable, walkable" areas because they 1) aren't as big as DC +burbs and 2) don't have as many jobs to create the more intense competition for real property.

In short, if DC wasn't created as the capitol of the U.S., and only Georgetown, Alexandria, Bladensburg and these older communities had just aged like Wilkes-Barre - I'm sure you could find your sought-after, affordable city living in this geographical area. But then you probably wouldn't have moved here I would guess...

On the historical aspects of Reston (or any more recent area like that), unless they are preserved within 50-75 years in a large American city they will get built over.

[Denton56]

Fear not, Reston will always have subsidized housing. The liberals who live, and vote, in Reston wouldn't have it any other way. I prefer the old fashion way, when people bought the house that they could afford without expecting their neighbors to pay for it.

[Alicia Bradley]

From normie's pics in another thread, Lake Anne looks lovely! They just need a few more fun small businesses (yeah, I know about the coffee shop, the handful of restaurants, and the antique store[s]) to be a fully swoon-worthy area. I for one love the '60s architecture - at the risk of going off on a tangent, the South Beach neighborhood of Miami was almost demolished about thirty years ago because its Art Deco architecture (from the 1920s and '30s) was considered "tacky." I think you'd have trouble finding very many people who would share that sentiment today. My parents are with you, though, Scranny - they think pre-20th century architectural styles (and the more traditional styles of the very early 20th century) generally have a more permanent aesthetic appeal than the modern and postmodern stuff. I used to agree with them, more or less, but I'm about to buy a 1960s home, so I've had to become something of a snob about architecture from that era. Hee.

[normie]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

From normie's pics in another thread, Lake Anne looks lovely! They just need a few more fun small businesses

Yup, totally agree. All we need is to have the economy improve a little so people feel like starting businesses again. I'd love to see a stained glass shop, and maybe a few shops with people making pottery or working on a loom. A store selling the model boats that people like to float on the lake would be fun. Or a kayak store.

[Caladium]

I haven't been over to Lake Anne Plaza in a while. What did they put in Larry's Pharmacy? And, did they keep the "pharmacy artwork" as part of the history of the plaza? (I'm talking about the giant band-aid, swab, etc.) I always liked that giant bandaid, but it's kind of hard to imagine a restaurant with that artwork in front of it. OTOH, it's also hard to imagine the Plaza without it.

Also, how's the new restaurant that took over where Il Cigna used to be?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Also, how's the new restaurant that took over where Il Cigna used to be?

Kalypso? I've heard mixed reviews, but I'm too broke to scope it out myself. I get an extra payday in October and will scope it out then. I'm lucky I could stumble home if I had one too many!

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

As I said this will just take some getting used to I suppose. I'm still not yet over the culture shock from moving here. While there are a LOT of things I like much better about VA than PA, one thing I'll never back down from is my belief that PA benefited from being mostly planned pre-automobile so that there are affordable places to live that have walkable cores. I know it's all a matter of preference, but I really like the aesthetics of late-1800s Victorians over 1990s tract housing and feel depressed that the former is nearly impossible to find here unless you go FAR away like Fredericksburg or Winchester.

Small towns, a hundred years ago, were PLANNED? By whom?

[perries]

I'm always interested in the idea of revitalizing Lake Anne, but a lot of proposals leave me skeptical. One often hears that we need to increase the foot traffic and/or density in the area to support the merchants, and it certainly is sluggish especially in winter. But just go to the farmers market any Saturday and behold all the foot traffic - for the farmers market, artisan booths and for the cafe. And a greater density would likely mean more locals heading for RTC and Plaza America for the same reasons locals do today.

This makes me think that if Lake Anne had stuff people wanted to go to regularly, they would find their way there regularly. I have no animus against the merchants there, but I just don't have a strong regular draw toward most of them. Last year right after the blizzard, I trekked over to the cafe and they were open - great walk and I knew I could count on the great family that runs the place. For them, for an outing after being snowbound, for a short trek through the snow - for that I would go to the plaza, for a pleasant frequent destination. If they had a bookstore/cafe or a library branch tied to a coffeehouse, or an event/movie/lecture space with regular programs - that would bring me regularly. I don't see turning out to browse artisan shops or specialty yarn stores (a proposal I've seen frequently) except on summer days I would probably be there anyway, not unless, perhaps, these shops were combined with regular events or classes more like the Torpedo Factory.

No, I think for regular year-long traffic one needs to think about what brings out people regularly year round. If they are around for classes, lectures and movies they will probably often combine the trip with a stop in a restaurant, cafe or shop.

Old-fashioned downtowns are a whole other subject, but Lake Anne really isn't one. It was never on a main street through the heart of town as were most heart-of-towns, or upon a village green like even older style villages. In fact, it IS a fake downtown, but it made sense when the original core of Reston was on pathways around it and it was waaay out in the hinterlands, not surrounded by shopping options as it is today. We have an original Restonite neighbor who reminisces about how in the early days you could live here week in and week out, and do all your business by walking over to Lake Anne with the kids. Another neighbor of ours used to swim across the lake to work. It sounds like a remarkable time, adventurous and idyllic both, but a different time.

[normie]

Originally Posted by perries

Another neighbor of ours used to swim across the lake to work. It sounds like a remarkable time, adventurous and idyllic both, but a different time.

LOL, you must live near Pat Kane. And yes, he DID swim to work! What a character!